WILL Press Room
WILL AM-FM-TV Named Recipient of CPB Community Impact Award
Monday, April 13, 2009
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will present WILL AM-FM-TV with the My Source Community Impact Award for Education for WILL initiatives including book mentoring in pre-school classrooms, the Youth Media Workshop with African-American teens, and a Hoopeston Youth Project.
The awards ceremony will take place as part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting/PBS-hosted Council of Chief State School Officers Legislative Conference, scheduled for Saturday, March 7, in Washington, D.C.
“We are honored to be recognized by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for our ongoing community efforts,” said WILL general manager Mark Leonard, who will accept the award at the conference. “WILL sees this work as increasingly central to our role as a community public media organization.”
In Hoopeston, WILL AM-FM-TV and Prairie Center Health Systems worked together on a project that led to a series of youth-led, well-attended town hall meetings and the creation of additional supports for at-risk youth.
In the Youth Media Workshop, WILL works with African-American middle and high school students, teaching them media production skills and journalistic practices. Students learn to tell stories that accurately reflect their community, gain technological and critical thinking skills, and bring their perspectives to important community issues.
WILL’s Book Mentor Project, part of its Young Learners Initiative, is designed to get books and literacy activities in the hands of families. Volunteer mentors from community organizations visit classrooms once a month to share a book and a related activity. Each child gets to take home a copy of the book.
The My Source Community Impact Awards for Education were created by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to give recognition to public television stations for their commitment to providing educational services to preschoolers, senior citizens, teachers and caregivers; for those with learning disabilities; for those with physical challenges; and for lifelong learners of all races and heritage, with measurable results. For more than four decades, public-service media has delivered content and services that advance learning — on-air, online, at home and in the classroom — providing a safe place where children can learn and a source of lifelong learning for all Americans.
The March 7 awards dinner will begin with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s presentation of the prestigious Fred Rogers Award for Excellence in Children’s Educational Media. The Fred Rogers Award, followed by the My Source awards, provides an educational arc of commitment and achievement through public television stations benefiting the American people.